Florida Businessmen Face Charges Over $330 Million Special-Needs and COVID-Test Fraud

Federal authorities have unveiled two unrelated but unusually large health-care fraud cases involving Florida businessmen, with prosecutors alleging combined losses of more than $330 million.

In Tampa, a federal grand jury indicted Clearwater resident Leo J. Govoni and accountant John Witeck on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and money-laundering conspiracy. Investigators say the pair siphoned at least $100 million from the Center for Special Needs Trust Administration, a St. Petersburg nonprofit that managed roughly 2,000 accounts for people with disabilities. The organization collapsed into bankruptcy last year after auditors discovered the shortfall. If convicted, the defendants face potential decades in prison.

Separately in Chicago, Orlando businessman Jamil Elkoussa was charged with five counts of wire fraud for allegedly orchestrating $233 million in false billings for COVID-19 PCR tests that were never performed. Prosecutors contend Elkoussa, then head of Meridian Medical Staffing, supplied fabricated patient data to a suburban laboratory, which in turn secured about $150 million in reimbursement from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration and kicked back tens of millions of dollars to Elkoussa’s firm. Authorities are seeking forfeiture of a $4.9 million Miami home and several Illinois properties.

Elkoussa is the eighth person charged in the ongoing investigation into Loretto Hospital’s pandemic-era contracting practices, which has already ensnared former hospital executives George Miller and Anosh Ahmed. Both cases underscore the Justice Department’s continued focus on large-scale health-care fraud, particularly schemes that divert resources from vulnerable patients and pandemic relief programs.